


Sweetened Sour

by Hello_Im_not_a_possum, space_waffles



Series: MMHOPH Age Swap AU [3]
Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Rated T for swearing, ageswap au, and also attempted child assassination
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21591808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hello_Im_not_a_possum/pseuds/Hello_Im_not_a_possum, https://archiveofourown.org/users/space_waffles/pseuds/space_waffles
Summary: While Adorabat and Mao Mao try to figure out the whole 'team dynamic' better (they're new to this whole 'team of three' thing), a Hitman named Lemon Bearclaw takes advantage of the team's disorganization to squeeze into the sheriff's dep group in the hopes of catching his target: Badgerclops. Either unfortunately or fortunately, Badgerclops starts to look up to Lemon as a hero/father figure.
Series: MMHOPH Age Swap AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1508600
Comments: 11
Kudos: 49





	1. A Zest for life

A traveler walks into a bar,

The bar itself was a loud and rowdy place, entropy of the average crowded bar was expected but there was a small crowd that surrounded and cheered over a table on the corner, most of them were chanting “Bearclaw”, others were screaming things like “RIP HIM APART, YOU BASTARD!” and “SHOW THAT JACKASS NO MERCY!”. This captivated our traveler’s attenison. As the traveler pushed through the crowd they saw two people engaged in an arm wrestling contest; a skunk with two mechanical arms (who was using both of them against his opponent), and a yellow bear with one mechanical arm (who was only using his flesh and blood arm against his opponent).

The traveler moved closer to the wrestlers, as they got a closer look, they noticed the Bear’s bright, hot-pink bandolier and heart-shaped eye patch on his left eye. They gasped, this was exactly who they were looking for.

Even with both of his arms, the skunk was clearly on the losing side.

“Wanna give up now? My food’s getting cold.”

“NO WAY! I’VE GOT SIX-HUNDRED BUCKS RIDING ON THIS AND I’M NOT LOSING THEM OVER A FUCKING-”

His eyes widened as his opponent started to squeeze his hands, he could hear the metal groaning in his grip. Then, he slammed the metal arms down on the table. The cheering of the crowd erupted into howling as the skunk screamed in agony as the bear broke his arms in the process, small parts of the machines had fallen onto the table, some starred on in horror as his opponent simply shook off his hand and reached for a plate of fries on the table. 

“Better luck next time, Buddy.”

He said with a chuckle and a smile, as if he didn’t just rip someone’s arms off like they were nothing but tissue paper.

“FUCK YOU LEMON!”

“Are you offering?”

The skunk sneered as he grabbed his arms in his mouth and scampered off, the traveler saw their chance.

“Speaking of offering, I have heard of you and… your ‘services’, Lemon Bearclaw.”

Lemon shushed the traveler, and took them to a more secluded area.

“Woah there little buddy, I can’t just let word get out about ‘those jobs’ I’m already in hot water here! Besides, I’m on break”

“Are you sure about that?”

They took a folded up poster out of their robes and handed it to him.

“I believe that there’s one job that nobody would want to pass up in your line of work.”

He unfolded it, it was a wanted poster of a notorious gang, with three out of four of the members’ faces crossed out in red ink.

“The thicket thieves? Aren’t those guys in jail?”

“All but one of them.”

“Badgerclops?”

“Yes.”

“Well that’s nice, but you’re looking in the wrong line of work. What you need is a Bounty hunter, not a hitman. I recommend a Lovely lady named Tanya Keys. She’s rather expensive and she doesn’t like to play by the rules, but you do get what you paid for.”

He went back to his now cold plate of fries. The traveler grabbed his paw before he could put another fry into his waiting mouth. 

“Oh, No No No No No No, Lemon, You’re exactly the type of man I need for this job, in fact, I can’t think of anyone better than you for this specific job. I don’t want that asshole to go to jail like how the rest of the gang did, _I want him to die_.”

“Ooooh, it’s personal, isn’t it?”

“For both of us my friend, for both of us.”

“But I’ve never met the guy!”

“Yes, but are you particularly attached to this little thing?”

They brushed their paw against Lemon’s metal arm, who smacked it off with his flesh arm.

“Hey! Hands off the merchandise Pal, It’s... it's a one-of-a-kind model...”

“If memory serves me correctly, it’s actually a ‘two’-of-a-kind model. You know it is rather funny that you and him have so much in common! You both have eyepatches over the left eye, you have similar fashion tastes, you both know the criminal scene rather well, you both have the same model of a prosthetic arm. And what was it that happened to it’s creator? Was it that the poor sap got mugged and was found dead in a ditch too soon? That our sorry sucker’s genius creations never saw the light of day and instead saw the severed stumps of criminals?”

Lemon’s face turned pale.

“No.. Y-you’re not implying...”

“Yes I am.”

Lemon grit his teeth and slipped the poster into his pocket. While on the inside he was a raging storm of anger, he had to keep calm. A man in his line of work would get killed on the first day if he couldn’t handle his emotions in a reasonable manner. He tapped his claws against the table for a few minutes, and when he felt that he could speak without having his anger being noticable in his tone.

“Personal or not, I don’t work for free and I don’t go on wild goose chases. If you got a price and a direction then I’m good to go.”

“Word on the street is that he’s settled down in a rather strange place called ‘Pure Heart Valley’, It’s impossible to miss, giant ruby heart with a large crack in it in the mountains. And as for the price…”

They slid a suitcase towards him, opening it to reveal that it was filled to the brim with a ‘fuck you’ amount of money.

“You’ll get the other half of your payment when you finish the job.”

"That Asshole's a dead man walking."

"That's what I like to hear."

* * *

There was a problem- scratch that, several problems with the new sheriff's department.

Mao Mao and Badgerclops didn’t know the laws of Pure Heart very well so it was hard for them to enforce them, Adorabat has been the lone member of the sheriff’s department for the entirety of their career so they were not used to working with other people as coworkers, Mao Mao was used to being the leader of the team when it was just him and Badgerclops so it was weird to adjust to the fact that someone else was calling the shots now, Badgerclops was used to the freedom of doing whatever he and Mao Mao wanted to do so all of these new rules for him where he had a lot less freedom was actually rather stressful, Mao Mao learned that the pure heart citizens didn't get any less annoying (if anything he found out more stuff about him that pissed him off), Adorabat still hadn't gotten a new bed as their paycheck hadn't come in yet so the pair had to sleep on the couch, Badgerclops learned that settling down is actually a lot harder then how he thought it would be (which will be elaborated on later).

And lastly, due to the fact that monsters were a relatively new problem to the valley, it was one that wasn’t always handled with grace.

Sure the two newcomers were experienced monster fighters (Which Adorabat was not) but since Mao Mao and Badgerclops were well, children they naturally had to be enrolled in school. But monsters do not know about or care for school schedules so the one person who knew jack shit about monster fighting was often the one person doing it themselves. Thankfully, today was not one of those days. Yes there was a swarm of giant acid-spitting lizard-spider things, but there was also three people fighting them this time!


	2. Better hope it's not a daddy, kiddo.

'Pure Heart Valley'...

To his knowledge, the place was a powerful and mysterious legend that was where a magical item called the Ruby Pure Heart stayed. That this wondrous colossal gemstone had not only powered the hidden kingdom, but had protected it from any and all harm, until the fateful day where the seemingly invincible heart was cracked, thus destroying its ability to hide and protect the kingdom.

Lemon never thought he'd go there in his life, from his perspective the legendary kingdom was nothing more than an old myth, a story mothers would tell their children… But here he was, making small talk with the (literally) colorful locals, seeing the sights, and just wandering around while subtly searching for any sign of the elusive criminal. He was impressed by his own ability to keep his cool in this high-stress, high-stakes, and a nonexistent deadline coming right at him like a freight train from hell. He didn’t know how long he had to find and kill Badgerclops, but it wasn’t enough time.

This was not how Lemon normally did his job, but Badgerclops was a special case. Normally, he'd settle down in his target's area for a while, at least two months, get friendly with the locals if there were any, subtly lure his target to a nice secluded spot, take him out and then collect the reward. But Badgerclops had a reputation of being a nomadic wanderer, if he was spotted by anyone who wanted him dead in their area, (which was rarely) the slippery bastard would always be gone before the hired hitmen on his tail would get him. So Lemon couldn't afford to take his chances with his normal routine, he had to find him immediately, take him down, then get the hell out of Pure Heart before the local police got him. The rooftop he managed to climb on provided an excellent view of the mysterious Pure Heart Valley, and he was in perfect earshot of the chaos down below.

“AAAAAAAIIIIEEEE! M-MONSTERS! THERE’S MONSTERS EVERYWHERE!"

"EVERYBODY RUN!”

"HIDE!"

"WE'RE GONNA GET EATEN!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

He turned his arm into a telescope and began looking intently. A swarm of lizard-like, acid-spitting monsters swarmed the area, his heart sank a bit as he realised that them being excellent climbers would mean that if they spotted him, he’d have to use his saved up ammo on THEM instead of his actual target. But there was a silver lining to their existence, the fact that there was too much chaos for the civilians to worry about him and or Badgerclops while they were running away and hiding. Sure, there were three people in that mess who were NOT running to safety but that would be their loss- wait a minute. Was that- no, he couldn't be *that* lucky, was that really Badgerclops? Out in the open with those other two? Holy shit it is him! This was his chance! He turned his mechanical arm into a sniper and aimed carefully...

There he was, surrounded by those monsters, and those other two weren't in sight! He truly was lucky! He steadied his aim as best as he could, while there was chaos with all of the monsters, he had a clear shot, the wind was perfect, all to do now was to pull the trigger. . .

*BANG!*

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!”

He missed! The laser blast didn’t even singe the top of the lucky bastard’s head! It instead hit a monster that was *this* close to eating him alive. And now, worst of all, his target was looking directly at him! His cover was blown! And now the other monsters were also looking at him as they saw were the shot came from! _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…_

As adrenaline took over, he turned his arm into a rocket and blasted himself directly into the swarm, as not doing so would make the monsters charge straight into the defenceless town full of helpless citizens. He heard someone barking orders and in a panic, he followed them as best he could. In his mind, the fight was a blur of acid, lizard-things, explosions, shouting, someone swinging a sword around, bright flashes of cannon fire and laser beams, at one point he went back-to-back with someone else, but he didn’t see who it was. . .

After what felt like mere seconds and an eternity at the same time, the monsters fled, the dust settled, and as he took a moment to catch his breath, he noticed a small badger staring up at him in starry-eyed awe.

“THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN! ‘You shot that guy’s head *clean* off when he was *this* close to getting me, and then you just ROCKETED yourself into battle and-”

He blinked in surprise as he heard the voice of his target for the first time, as he saw him face-to-face, as opposed to pictures and he realised something. That metal arm, that eyepatch, that bandolier, this was definitely his target. But that voice, his stature, the fact he was currently excitedly gushing about how cool he was during the fight, this was just a kid. A KID was part of the thicket thieves, a KID was a part of all the crimes they committed, a KID escaped the narrow clutches of justice by running away from his former team at just the right time, a KID has been hunted down by almost every bounty hunter and hitman on the market but managed to avoid them at every twist and turn, a KID was the one he was hired to kill. He wasn’t some mastermind or diabolical villain, he was just the luckiest unlucky kid alive.

“All right, great work out there boys, Pure Heart Valley is safe another day.”

The other voice snapped him out of his darker thoughts, and introduced lighter ones. ‘Oh yeah, there were two other people here’. Specifically, there was a large blue bat who looked similar to most of the sweetie pies but was far taller than the average one, this person seemed to be the leader of the group as they were the only adult he could see at the moment. And then there was another kid. The final member of this strange ragtag team of heroes was a small black kitten clad in red who had intense acid-green eyes. Lemon watched the little fellow nonchalantly slide the giant golden sword he had with him into what looked like a small golden cane, Lemon internally wondered if he needed the cane as an actual cane or if the weapon was just easier for the tiny fellow to carry as a walking stick?

“Yeah, great work team! We really killed it before they got the chance to! Especially you, Badgerclops, great work covering the rest of us back there.”

The tiny badger beamed with pride as the four headed back to the sheriff’s headquarters. And Lemon internally sighed in relief as he seemed to effortlessly slip into the clique, he learned the other member’s names through passing conversation and seamlessly slipped his own name in there with the kind of nonchalant attitude which would make them assume that they’ve heard it before. He could still feel his heart pounding loudly in his throat as he realized that this was going to be the hardest job he had ever taken in his life, but not in the way he assumed it would be.

Would he have the heart to kill this child? Would avenging Dr. Zeppole's death be worth it? even with the money? If he did it, would he ever forgive himself?

* * *

Badgerclops couldn't believe that Adorabat had a friend who was THIS COOL! Or that they never introduced him to them before! A giant fluffy and friendly yellow bear who had a metal robotic arm just like his own robot arm! How on earth did he miss that guy?! or not meet him before today?! Why didn't Adorabat tell him and Mao Mao about this guy?! How did Adorabat meet him? Did they *gasp* have a 'special history' together?

If his exited grip was any tighter on the blanket, he would tear holes into the poor piece of fabric. He just couldn't sleep a wink with this revelation at hand!

In hindsight, he kinda figured that it would make sense for them to want back up and then get it, Adorabat didn't know crap about monster fighting so maybe they found someone who did and then teamed up with him when He and Mao Mao were at stuck at school. He didn't really know a lot of the people in pure heart, there was a lot of stuff going on, and maybe they DID introduce the large yellow fellow but he and Mao Mao were too focused on their homework (bleh) to notice him. But that wasn't important at the moment, the important thing was that he had now met Lemon Bearclaw.

But there was still so much he wanted to know! what was his and Adorabat's first meeting like? Was he also a traveling adventurer that settled down to protect Pure heart like Mao Mao and himself? was there a chance he's heard about them on his own travels and that's how he knew his name or did Adorabat tell him about them? or both? did both happen? 

"C'mon, Mao Mao! you gotta admit you're a little bit curious!"

"I'm curious about why you decided to wake me up at one in the morning when we're not doing sleep shifts or running from the guys who used to chase us anymore."

"I mean, about Lemon! where do you think he's from?"

"Pure heart valley? like the rest of the sweetie pies."

"But he's HUGE!"

"So? he's still brightly colored and has a heart-shaped eyepatch. Adorabat, Marion, and that purple guy with horns are also really tall."

"But he doesn't have a heart-shaped patch of fur anywhere on him!"

"Maybe it's under his bandolier, Badgerclops, it's late and we have school in the morning!"

"That reminds me, why do we even go to school? the whole point of school is to get good grades so we could get a job and we already have jobs! In fact, school messes us up with our jobs!"

"We do it because we need to learn stuff and it's required by law for kids to go to school. Just let me go back to sleep already. . ."

Badgerclops huffed in annoyance as Mao Mao readjusted himself, and tried to go back to sleep. There were some perks that came with Mao Mao being a morning person and Badgerclops being a night person, and things like this was not one of them.


End file.
